


Different Faces, Different Places

by emmi_hayes



Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), The Unusuals
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life, Will is only mentioned in passing, doughnuts because they're cops, pre-Unusuals, references to that other movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-15
Updated: 2013-10-15
Packaged: 2017-12-29 11:52:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1005103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmi_hayes/pseuds/emmi_hayes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eddie Alvarez is dating the most amazing girl ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Different Faces, Different Places

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be focused on Nicole and Walsh. And then Eddie happened.
> 
> Title from We Can Try by Between the Trees.
> 
> I didn't proof this, let me know if I screwed up terribly.

Eddie Alvarez is having a good day. The break room coffee is a few notches below lethal this morning, the New York City breeze is holding onto its early spring  chill that fights off the copper-penny-exhaust-piss smell of the approaching summer, and his dentist didn’t have any complaints with him at his six month checkup.

His day turns great when he looks up to see his lovely fiancée standing in the doorway. Well, soon to be fiancée. (Eddie Alvarez has a ring, and a plan, and _not_ jitters at the mere thought of getting down on one knee. Because he will and there will be candles and soft music and rose petals. Eddie Alvarez has a plan. He just needs to be better first, because Nicole Brandt deserves the world and he’s just a detective. For now.) She wiggles her fingers at him and grins when she catches his eye. It makes him feel weightless and heavy and warm and downright _special._ This woman _does things_ to him. He really doesn’t know why that is, but he is not stupid enough to question whatever angel smiled down on their meeting.

Nicole is cutting across the room as he stands from his desk. She has a white paper bag clutched in one hand, her work bag in the other. “Good morning, Detective Alvarez,” she says as she plants herself in front of him. Her eyes always hold equal amounts of mischief and pride when she calls him that. The blush that paints his cheeks and pinks his ears is also a constant to the title when it rolls off her lips.

“Good morning, Ms. Brandt,” he returns politely. He runs a hand down his tie and can’t help the sappy smile. “What brings you to the Second? I certainly hope you haven’t been running into any bad guys this early.”

She smiles even wider at that, in a way he doesn’t understand, because how is she real? “Just brought you something since you had a dentist appointment.” She held up the bad and waved it at him.

Eddie happily took it, curious and delighted and grateful. Opening it up he chuckles to find a few doughnuts inside. He glances up at her, about to make a crack about the stereotypes she was trying to feed, literally, but she was peering around his shoulder sharp eyes, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Will?” Nicole asked just as Eddie was about to see if she was okay. She stepped around him and said again, “William.”

Eddie casts his gaze over his shoulder, than completely turns around because he didn’t see any one he didn’t know. Kowalski and Banks were arguing over baseball, and Walsh was shaking his head while he reads over a report. When Nicole called for a Will a third time he reached out and took her elbow just as she took a step forward. Eddie was a little confused and maybe a little worried, because Nicole had never looked so lost before—she was always confident and in control of whatever situation she was in.

“Baby, who’s Will?” he asked quietly, a frown tugged at his lips as she wrapped her arms around herself, shutting herself off from him.

“It’s not— he just— Eddie, who is that?” She said and her voice cracked. She cut her eyes over to Walsh and then back up to him as if he held all the answers.

“I was telling you about the new guy?” He didn’t mean it to be a question. “Walsh, um, his name is Jason Walsh. He moved to the Second Squad about two weeks ago. Why? Do you know him?” He held onto her shoulders, grounding her because he could be her anchor if that was what she needed. Eddie Alvarez could be whatever she needed.

“No, no,” she said quickly, an embarrassed little laugh escaping her. “Um, he just, he just looks a lot like my brother.”

Eddie hummed as he thought about that. “Well,” he drawled, “I don’t really know the guy, but I don’t think he’s super-secret CIA agent material.”

That pulled another laugh out of her, made her smile for real. “He’s not a secret agent,” she corrected. She straightened his tie as she did so. Eddie could not put words to the things that simple act made him _feel_. “He’s not even CIA. It’s a different branch.”

“Well, Eddie Alvarez would disagree, from what you have told me he is definitely a super-secret agent, acronyms notwithstanding.”

Her smile is softer now and he likes that about her. That she can be so soft even when she is so strong and fierce. “Well, Eddie Alvarez might just be right. Super-secret agents wouldn’t tell their baby sisters the super-secret parts of their job, huh?” He nodded to that, because it was a very valid point. She won court cases with that tone. “I have to get going, we’re still on for dinner?”

He confirmed and gave her a kiss good bye, smiling as she walked out. She glances back twice, and it makes him wonder just how much alike the two men really look when both times her eyes linger on Walsh instead of him. As he pulled a doughnut from the paper bag he made a note to ask her to see some pictures soon.


End file.
